1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to golf technique aids and, more specifically, to a Planar-Parallactic Golf Alignment Aide.
2. Description of Related Art
Golf equipment manufacturers have brought many different devices to the consumer in order to aid the golfer in improving their game. There are two general areas emphasized by golf technique aids—those that assist the golfer in his or her stance/approach to the ball, and those that assist the golfer in aligning the club so that the ball will travel in the desired direction. One example of the former is found in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 depicts the prior art golf alignment aid of D'Amico, U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,012. The “golf club including positioning aid” disclosed by D'Amico includes one or more apertures 14 formed through the shaft 12 or handle of the golf club. In order to correctly align the body to the club prior to the swing using the D'Amico, the golfer 16 aligns his/her body such that his or her eye 18 is aligned with one of the apertures 14. When the sight line 20 is correctly aligned, the golfer 16 will be able to see light through the aperture 14. One problem with the D'Amico device is that it fails to aid the golfer in aligning the club face to the desired destination. FIG. 2 is another design intended to assist the golfer in positioning the head and body relative to the club and ball.
FIG. 2 depicts the prior art golf alignment aid of Sykes, U.S. Pat. No. 3,548,504. The “sighting device for establishing a line of sight” of Sykes is a protrusion for mounting to the top of a conventional golf club head. The device 22 has a base 28 mounted to the head 24. A “far sight section” 30 is located atop the base 28, and a “near sight section” 32 extends upwardly from the far sight section 30. Similar to D'Amico, with Sykes the golfer aligns his or her head in the correct position, whereby the near sight section 32 and far sight section 30 are being viewed from directly above—in this position, the near sight section 32 will appear to be a dot that is in the center of a circle (the far sight section 30). As with D'Amico, the Sykes device fails to aid the golfer in aligning the club face with the hole (or other desired destination for the ball).
The face-hole alignment issue is extremely important when putting, and FIG. 3 depicts a prior putter that assists the golfer in this alignment. FIG. 3 depicts the prior art golf club alignment aid known as the “2-ball” head 34 made by Callaway Golf™. The 2-ball head 34 has a club head 36 defined by a face 40 and a top surface 42. The top surface has a first ball image 44 and a second ball image 46 in planar alignment with the planar alignment line 50. Generally speaking, the planar alignment line 50 is an imaginary line that extends perpendicular to the face 40, and is assumed to be the direction in which a ball 48 will travel if struck with the face 40.
To use the 2-ball club, the user simply aligns the first and second ball images 44 and 46, respectively, with the actual ball 48 so that the planar alignment line 50 is created by connecting the centers of the two images 44 and 46 and the ball 48. By doing so, the golfer is both aligning the center of the face (horizontally) with the ball 48, as well as aligning the club face 40 with the hole (or other desired destination for the ball 48). The 2-ball club head has apparently been successful as evidenced by its wide popularity with amateur golfers.
The problem with the 2-ball head 34 is that it does not really aid the golfer in positioning his or her head and body with the club or ball so that the golfer's stance and (hopefully) swing is correct. What is needed is an improved golf club head design that provides the golfer with a planar alignment tool (i.e. to align the club face in the direction of the shot), as well as providing an aid for the stance relative to the ball and club so that the swing is also improved.